1. We're going to start on the women's hoops side of things, so that I can delay diving into the men's side a little longer. Nice bounceback to beat Auburn on Sunday afternoon. The main takeaway from that game is that Missouri led 23-2 after a quarter. Kudos to Mizzou for its defense and all, but how does a team not even fall into four points over the course of ten minutes? It seems pretty impossible. Maybe it has something to do with Mizzou, I don't know. The last four games have featured these numbers:
Auburn: 2 points in a quarter
Kentucky: Mizzou scored 41, both teams TOTALED 93
Georgia: Bulldogs had 13 at half, 35 for the game and scored in single digits in three of four quarters
Perhaps Missouri has a great defense, perhaps this is Missouri's style. It's tough basketball to watch at times, but as long as they win, I'm sure Robin Pingeton is fine with it.
2. Okay, so we have to talk about LSU. I'm going to do this in two separate parts. Part one, here, is what is encouraging about it:
Without its second leading scorer and rebounder (yes, Mark Smith is second on the team in rebounding), Missouri not only played with a top 25 team, but thoroughly outplayed a top 25 team for nearly 38 minutes. The Tigers showed heart and hustle and did absolutely every single thing you could ask of a team that on most nights--and certainly on this one--is outmanned right now. Jeremiah Tilmon played 35 minutes and Jordan Geist played the best game of his career and Ronnie Suggs made some plays and none of that should be completely forgotten because the game did not turn out the way Missouri wanted it to turn out. The night was not without significant positives and reasons for hope.
3. And then there's the flip side. In the end, all the positives were undone by 2:14 of terrible basketball (I'll get to the officiating in the next bullet point). Let's go play by play from the point Suggs went 1/2 from the line to give Mizzou a 70-56 lead with 2:14 left
2:08--Skylar Mays makes a three. Too quick, but not a big concern. Plus, it was a 25 footer.
1:57--Kevin Puryear turnover (this was credited to Puryear. He could have caught the pass. It was not a good pass from Javon Pickett...it was behind Puryear, who was going full speed at the basket...a good pass almost certainly leads to a layup, or at least a foul) leads to
1:53--Skylar Mays layup and free throw. You've now given up six points in 15 seconds. Don't commit the foul here. Concede the layup or foul hard enough that there's no way he makes it. Bad foul. Get out of the way. Nervous level rising, not frenzied yet.
1:49--Jordan Geist turnover (got trapped in the corner). I understand why no timeout was called, but calling one wouldn't have been the worst thing ever, especially considering this team's history against pressure and the fact that there was really only one ballhandler on the floor...leads to
1:41--Skylar Mays three off an offensive rebound. This is where the panic starts to set in. First of all, you've turned it over twice. The first one wasn't due to pressure, the second one was. But regardless of the reason, late game turnovers have been a problem for this team over the last year and a half and doubt is creeping in. In addition, the biggest problem here was not getting the rebound off the Tremont Waters miss. LSU didn't make every single shot in this run...but Mizzou gave them too many chances. You've now given up nine points on three possessions in 33 seconds
1:29--Jordan Geist 1/2 free throws. Got a point, but you're now 2/4 from the line in the last 45 seconds. Make even one more and you might have been okay.
1:21--Tremont Waters made three. Again, only took eight seconds. But Waters is a great player and sometimes great players make great plays. Geist could have been up on him a little further, but sometimes guys make plays.
0:45--Ronnie Suggs turnover. I'll give the Tigers this: They burned 35 seconds. And in that spot, you figure, as long as you burn 35 seconds, the worst thing that should happen is LSU ties the game and you get the ball back probably with a chance to take the last shot. Not ideal, but not the worst thing that could happen. The problem here was that Geist appears to be the only guy on the floor who wants the ball in the final minute of a close game.
0:39--LSU misses a three and Geist rebounds. At this point, you SHOULD be safe. If you make your free throws, you're going to win the game. But...
0:36--Jeremiah Tilmon foul. I can't find video of this foul. I can't say if it was a good call, bad call or 50/50. Regardless, it's crushing because Naz Reid makes both free throws and it's a one point game with 36 seconds left. There's no way you can prevent LSU from having a shot to tie the game.
0:14--Jordan Geist misses a three. Like the Tilmon foul, I can't find the video. But I question why Geist is taking a three with eight seconds left on the shot clock in a game you're leading. Go to the basket. Get fouled. Missouri called a timeout with 31 seconds left and I don't know that they got the best shot they could have here. I will admit, though, if Geist makes the shot, we're talking about him having huge balls and winning the game. Again, Missouri is a victim of having only one guy who seems to want the ball here.
0:02--Ronnie Suggs called for a foul. It was an awful call. If that exact play happens 100 times, you MIGHT find two where it's called a foul on the defensive rebounder. Maybe. Awful call. Karma forced LSU to miss one of the two free throws which sent the game to OT where Missouri had absolutely no chance.
3. So let's talk blame. Do the officials deserve some? 100% they do. If they call the foul with two seconds left on Emmitt Williams, or if they simply call nothing, Missouri is about 98% certain to win the game. They didn't. I've also seen a lot of indications that at least one and maybe two of Tilmon's fouls were terrible calls. So I'm not going to preach to you that officials do not impact the outcome of games. They impacted this one.
4. That said, they're not SOLELY to blame. Refs alone don't blow a 14 point lead in just a little more than two minutes. Missouri had a bad pass and a terrible possession that led to turnovers. They had another turnover 35 seconds into a possession and had a less than ideal shot with 14 seconds to go. They missed two free throws. To put it kindly, they melted down. If JUST the officials were bad, Missouri wins. If JUST Missouri was bad, Missouri wins. If LSU doesn't make three three-pointers and a three-point play, Missouri wins. It took the perfect storm of every one of those things coming together to lose this game. And that's what happened.
Auburn: 2 points in a quarter
Kentucky: Mizzou scored 41, both teams TOTALED 93
Georgia: Bulldogs had 13 at half, 35 for the game and scored in single digits in three of four quarters
Perhaps Missouri has a great defense, perhaps this is Missouri's style. It's tough basketball to watch at times, but as long as they win, I'm sure Robin Pingeton is fine with it.
2. Okay, so we have to talk about LSU. I'm going to do this in two separate parts. Part one, here, is what is encouraging about it:
Without its second leading scorer and rebounder (yes, Mark Smith is second on the team in rebounding), Missouri not only played with a top 25 team, but thoroughly outplayed a top 25 team for nearly 38 minutes. The Tigers showed heart and hustle and did absolutely every single thing you could ask of a team that on most nights--and certainly on this one--is outmanned right now. Jeremiah Tilmon played 35 minutes and Jordan Geist played the best game of his career and Ronnie Suggs made some plays and none of that should be completely forgotten because the game did not turn out the way Missouri wanted it to turn out. The night was not without significant positives and reasons for hope.
3. And then there's the flip side. In the end, all the positives were undone by 2:14 of terrible basketball (I'll get to the officiating in the next bullet point). Let's go play by play from the point Suggs went 1/2 from the line to give Mizzou a 70-56 lead with 2:14 left
2:08--Skylar Mays makes a three. Too quick, but not a big concern. Plus, it was a 25 footer.
1:57--Kevin Puryear turnover (this was credited to Puryear. He could have caught the pass. It was not a good pass from Javon Pickett...it was behind Puryear, who was going full speed at the basket...a good pass almost certainly leads to a layup, or at least a foul) leads to
1:53--Skylar Mays layup and free throw. You've now given up six points in 15 seconds. Don't commit the foul here. Concede the layup or foul hard enough that there's no way he makes it. Bad foul. Get out of the way. Nervous level rising, not frenzied yet.
1:49--Jordan Geist turnover (got trapped in the corner). I understand why no timeout was called, but calling one wouldn't have been the worst thing ever, especially considering this team's history against pressure and the fact that there was really only one ballhandler on the floor...leads to
1:41--Skylar Mays three off an offensive rebound. This is where the panic starts to set in. First of all, you've turned it over twice. The first one wasn't due to pressure, the second one was. But regardless of the reason, late game turnovers have been a problem for this team over the last year and a half and doubt is creeping in. In addition, the biggest problem here was not getting the rebound off the Tremont Waters miss. LSU didn't make every single shot in this run...but Mizzou gave them too many chances. You've now given up nine points on three possessions in 33 seconds
1:29--Jordan Geist 1/2 free throws. Got a point, but you're now 2/4 from the line in the last 45 seconds. Make even one more and you might have been okay.
1:21--Tremont Waters made three. Again, only took eight seconds. But Waters is a great player and sometimes great players make great plays. Geist could have been up on him a little further, but sometimes guys make plays.
0:45--Ronnie Suggs turnover. I'll give the Tigers this: They burned 35 seconds. And in that spot, you figure, as long as you burn 35 seconds, the worst thing that should happen is LSU ties the game and you get the ball back probably with a chance to take the last shot. Not ideal, but not the worst thing that could happen. The problem here was that Geist appears to be the only guy on the floor who wants the ball in the final minute of a close game.
0:39--LSU misses a three and Geist rebounds. At this point, you SHOULD be safe. If you make your free throws, you're going to win the game. But...
0:36--Jeremiah Tilmon foul. I can't find video of this foul. I can't say if it was a good call, bad call or 50/50. Regardless, it's crushing because Naz Reid makes both free throws and it's a one point game with 36 seconds left. There's no way you can prevent LSU from having a shot to tie the game.
0:14--Jordan Geist misses a three. Like the Tilmon foul, I can't find the video. But I question why Geist is taking a three with eight seconds left on the shot clock in a game you're leading. Go to the basket. Get fouled. Missouri called a timeout with 31 seconds left and I don't know that they got the best shot they could have here. I will admit, though, if Geist makes the shot, we're talking about him having huge balls and winning the game. Again, Missouri is a victim of having only one guy who seems to want the ball here.
0:02--Ronnie Suggs called for a foul. It was an awful call. If that exact play happens 100 times, you MIGHT find two where it's called a foul on the defensive rebounder. Maybe. Awful call. Karma forced LSU to miss one of the two free throws which sent the game to OT where Missouri had absolutely no chance.
3. So let's talk blame. Do the officials deserve some? 100% they do. If they call the foul with two seconds left on Emmitt Williams, or if they simply call nothing, Missouri is about 98% certain to win the game. They didn't. I've also seen a lot of indications that at least one and maybe two of Tilmon's fouls were terrible calls. So I'm not going to preach to you that officials do not impact the outcome of games. They impacted this one.
4. That said, they're not SOLELY to blame. Refs alone don't blow a 14 point lead in just a little more than two minutes. Missouri had a bad pass and a terrible possession that led to turnovers. They had another turnover 35 seconds into a possession and had a less than ideal shot with 14 seconds to go. They missed two free throws. To put it kindly, they melted down. If JUST the officials were bad, Missouri wins. If JUST Missouri was bad, Missouri wins. If LSU doesn't make three three-pointers and a three-point play, Missouri wins. It took the perfect storm of every one of those things coming together to lose this game. And that's what happened.
